Roomates At 6 AM
by kixotical
Summary: At Jade University, everyone comes to school for a new beginning, a new start. When six students at Jade University are thrown together, no one could have predicted that their lives would change forever. In this human AU, friendship, love, sorrow, and grief take hold as these roomates learn what it truly means to live...and embark on an adventure of their own.
1. Moon: Prologue

**Okay, if you're here to talk about how much you hate it and judge it because it's a human AU, I suggest you go right now, because you're not wanted here. Go on, no one will judge you.**

 **Now that those guys are gone, to everyone still here, I just want to make things clear that the humans will still have dragon-like qualities. While they won't be able to breath fire, NightWings (or in this story, Nights) will still be able to blend into shadows, Sands will be able to withstand long periods of heat and vice-versa for Ices, a Rain's hair can change and their skin can turn invisible, and so forth. Got it? Good.**

 **Also, I decided to rewrite the prologue, so here you go!**

* * *

 _ **Moonwatcher**_

If there was any person Moon could have chosen to be, chances are she wouldn't choose herself.

Oh sure, her mother often said that she was "a gift from the stars, the light of her life", but Moon scarcely believed that. While she did love her mother, and her mother loved her back, sometimes she found herself wondering what would happen if she hadn't been born the person she was now. She found herself having these thoughts so often, she wondered if it would worry her mother if she told her.

Sometimes, on particularly hard days, Moon would sit in her bed or in class and just wonder if she was someone else. Someone who wasn't quiet and anxious all the time, but rather extroverted and popular. Someone who all the Night students at her high school liked, and who didn't resent her out of jealousy. Someone who raised her hand in class because she knew the answers, and didn't keep quiet because she was worried about what other dragons would say.

She remembered one near the end of junior year, this one girl, Lightpiecer was having a party to celebrate the end of school, and had invited the whole school, which she hadn't considered included Moonwatcher. The young Night, considering herself an intorvert, had struggled for hours whether or not to actually show up, but in the end her mother had convinced her, saying that it "would be fun".

However, when she finally did arrive, Lightpiecer's boyfriend, Strongrune had answered the door, his dark brown Night skin glaring in the moonlight. "Uh...what are you doing here?" He had asked, looking down at Moon with what would only described as a look someone gives when they find a rat in their kitchen. Shifting under his gaze, Moon managed to sputter out the words, "I-I was invited," and held up the invitation.

Strongrune had studied it for a moment to make sure it was authentic. "Yeah...I don't know what this is, but there's clearly been a mistake. Lightpiecer made it very clear not to invite any freaks, so, yeah, bye," he had said, slamming the door in her face. Moon wasn't sure if she had imagined it or not, but she thought she had heard Strongrune retelling the story, and laughter following it from inside. She had gone home and spent the rest of the night crying.

That was basically how senior year went. She had graduated as valedictorian, and when she received her diploma, her mother had stood up and starting cheering, snapping pictures with her camera. However, she heard the murmur of other student's minds as she walked past.

 _What a freak._

 _Show-off._

 _No one can be that perfect._

 _I bet she's secretly a whore._

 _Poser._

 _Loser._

When she had finally graduated, Moon had been ecstatic. The chance to stay at home all day, reading scrolls and with only her mother for company was her dream come true, though her mother didn't seem quite so excited.

"Moon, baby, come on," she had pleaded with Moon one night on the couch. "You're eighteen. I never got a real education; but you can!" Moon had sat with her arms crossed, staring at the computer screen that bled with the hard truth of a full-paid scholarship due to her _academic achievements_.

"Mom, come on!" Moon had pleaded, sinking deeper into the couch. "You know how horrible those kids were to me! I can't live through high school _twice!"_ Her mother had simply shaken her head. "Sweetie, it won't be like high school. You're just looking at the next four years, and not anything after. You're smart enough to do anything you want in life, but it'll be so much harder if you don't go to college!"

"I-I'll figure it out!" Moon had cried, but she had felt her opinions begin to waver. If she did go to college...then maybe she could get a good job, and rise higher in Night society. If she did, then maybe everyone else would start to like her and respect her. If there was one thing Moon wanted in life, it was for the other people to simply like her, nothing more. "Please, baby?" Her mother had asked.

Looking up at her mother, Moon sighed. "Fine," she muttered, slumping down in the couch. If anything, going to Jade University would be better than going to SORN (School of Rain and Night, built by Queen Glory) or even worse, Midnight Academy, the Night college nearby, where Moon knew most of the people from high school would be going. If she was going to get an education anywhere, it should be far away from the Night Kingdom, and any of her doubts.

"Okay, mom. I'll go."


	2. Chapter I: Winter

**~|Fall|~**

* * *

 _ **Winter**_

Winter was beginning to believe that lizards had the ability to sense the future.

As the white limo rolled down the asphalt road, Winter listened to his _draconem,_ or winged lizard, Bandit, a special breed, flap around the cage nervously, it's scales banging on the brass bars.

To be honest, Bandit seemed to be getting more and more jittery as they neared the school, and from what Winter expected to happen, he couldn't help thinking that Bandit's actions were easily justified.

On the other side of Bandit's cage, Icicle groaned, covering her ears. "Did you have to bring that _insipid_ thing with us?" She growled, glaring our her window and refusing to look at Winter.

"He's not _insipid!"_ Winter protesting, his face flushing blue. "He's a rare species!" Lowering himself down so that he could look into the cage, Winter reached his ice-cold fingers through the bars in an attempt to stroke him, but Bandit just flew towards the back of the cage, resulting in a loud, echoing laugh from Icicle.

"Well your lizard doesn't seem to like you very much," she snorted meanly, and Winter released a sigh, turning to watch the world around him blur past, like someone mixing all the colors of paints on a pallet together.

Maybe this wasn't the best idea. In all honesty, Winter had never wanted to go to Jade University in the first place. Near the end of his senior year of high school, he had sent a letter out to Typhoon University, a college at the very tips of the Ice Kingdom, hidden away from the rest of the world by a frigid layer of ice and snow, providing rigorous courses, an amazing campus—and just so happening to be the place where Hailstorm went to college.

He had spent weeks after nervously awaiting a reply, barely being able to eat or sleep. In fact, he would get so excited when his laptop buzzed with a notification, that every time he did, he jumped a little, which is resulted in a fine amount of scolding from mother when he accidentally dropped her fine china.

But as it turns out, all that waiting had been for nothing. As soon as he clicked _Open Message_ on his e-mail account, as soon as he and his parents saw the words _we regret to inform you_ displayed on the screen, it all came crashing down. As if the disappointment at not being able to go the same school as Hailstorm wasn't enough, he was forced to endure the backlash given by his parents, saying how he wasn't good enough.

In the end, he had no choice but to try for the school Icicle had been accepted into. Though from the sound of it, he was beginning to think that Icicle had thought Jade University would be in the Ice Kingdom and not much farther south near the Sky Kingdom.

Because now, Icicle looked like she wanted to be anywhere in the world _but_ here. Sleek, long white hair framing her face, Icicle stared at the window, her sharp black eyes shaped into a scowl. However, the only words he had been able to get out of her the whole time though were when she made fun of Bandit, so he was beginning to think he liked her better this way.

"Prince Winter, Princess Icicle, I believe we have arrived," the coach declared, lowering the divider just enough so that he could address the siblings without facing Icicle's death glare. Ignoring Icicle, Winter wrapped his hand around the handle of Bandit's cage and climbed out of the car, squinting as the sunlight shone into his eyes. "It was never this bright in the Ice Kingdom," Icicle muttered to herself as the coach gather her luggage; six large white suitcases, most of which Winter knew held her battle armor.

Grabbing his own luggage, a small periwinkle blue suitcase, Winter walked through the courtyard, holding his head high as he got several stares from other students. He knew it wasn't every day that royalty showed up, and right now he was doing his best to look as regal as possible. At this particular moment, he envied Icicle, who could look as regal as possible without even trying, and made him look like a drunken snail in comparison.

Stealing a quick glance at Icicle, Winter held up his chin just a bit higher in imitation of her, and tried his best to look completely oblivious to the intrigued whispers following them inside. Allowing the coach to push open the glass doors, Winter stepped into an a large commons area, dazzling sunlight filtering in through the windows. A small waterfall trickled from the wall into a pool in the center of the room, and long, black couches lines the walls, a small barista bar serving students.

Still, Winter furrowed his eyebrows together. He had heard that Typhoon University had several systems of dorms, while this seemed to be the only one. Releasing a sigh, Winter grabbed his suitcase and dragged it through the commons without a second glance. He knew it would probably be a better choice for his social status on campus if he chose to hang out in the commons for a little bit, but right now he wasn't exactly apt to 'make friends'.

At his father's insistence, he was here to study military technologies, so that he might "become half the person Hailstorm and Icicle are." Shuddering at his father's last words to him before he boarded the coach, Winter realized he had just been standing in the middle of the hallway, and was warranting a few curious glances from other students. Feeling the blue blood rush to his face, Winter adjusted his red neck tie and climbed into the elevator, checking his informational pamphlet with his room on it then pressing the appropriate floor.

The back wall of the elevator was entirely made of glass, so Winter held onto the railing as he watched the world around fall away below him, and, finally allowing himself to breath for a moment, set down Bandit's cage, and leaned his head against the elevator wall, finally allowing himself to breathe for a moment. Finally, after nearly three months of indigenous planning, scolding and doubt, he was finally here. It wasn't Typhoon University, but it was here.

He would have four years to redeem his name. Four years to make his family proud for once. Four years to become to prince that everyone expected him to be. Away from the stress of the Ice Kingdom, and faced with the relief of actually having _made it,_ Winter closed his eyes, and smiled. It was going to be okay, now that he was here. He just had to pour himself into his studies and graduate with honors, and he could become the prince that everyone expected him to be.

 _"Psst...you might want to wake up...shit, are you in a coma?"_

Startled, Winter jumped, his pale blue hair flying in his face. What the heck? As his eyelids flew open, he realized that he was no longer alone in the elevator. During the time he had been reminiscing about finally being at college, a second person had entered the elevator, very, very different from Winter himself.

He was a Sand, with light brown, olive-colored skin, tan from being in the sun all day. A nasty, small scar split the skin across his nose in a barely healed pink gash, thought that was almost hidden my the freckles dotting the bridge of his nose and cheeks. His dark brown hair was brushed up on his head, but it was only dark brown on the sides; the other top part was an interesting sandy blonde color, looking as if he had dyed it himself.

A pale yellow t-shirt hung off his soldiers, and tan brown shorts covered his legs, two sandals covering his feet. As Winter jumped, he smiled, amused, and when he smiled, it was kind of crooked.

Winter couldn't be more eager to get away from him.

A lowly Sand; the dragon reached of dirt. So much in fact, that Winter was beginning to think that this dragon had grown up in a ditch, somewhere far, far away from the Ice Kingdom. Altogether, he just seemed grimy and _weird;_ if he was in the Ice Kingdom, he wouldn't have survived a day. "Sorry, did I startled you?" The Sand said, rubbing his neck with an annoyingly charming smile.

Feeling his face flush blue, Winter grabbed Bandit's cage and his suitcase, standing rigidly. "No," he lied, huffing out the word, and the Sand regarded him with a skeptical look. "Really? Because when someone yells and jumps, I've heard that they're afraid. You know, so I've heard," he said, and Winter rolled his eyes, silently willing the elevator, which now seemed agonizingly slow, to just speed up.

When Winter didn't respond, the Sand bent down, and stuck his hands through Bandit's cage without even asking. Flinching, Winter looked down at the Sand with extreme dislike, and expected Bandit to flinch away and start flapping around the cage again like he did when Winter tried to pet him. However, to his surprise, Bandit landed softly on the floor of the cage, cocking his head curiously at Qibli, then leaned forward and allowed Qibli to stroke his head.

"Hey little lizard," the young Sand soothed. "I'm Qibli. What's your name?" Scoffing, Winter glared down at the boy, who happened to be named Qibli. "First of all, it's not a lizard, it's a draconem. And second of all, _it's a draconem. It can't speak."_ Standing to his full height, which was just an inch taller than Winter, Qibil stuffed his hands in his pocket. "Yeah, but you can, and since 99% of the people on this planet do, I'm assuming you have a name," Qibli said, raising his eyebrows at the obvious hint.

Huffing, Winter rolled his eyes and looked away. "It's Winter," he finally muttered, and Qibli pumped his fist in victory. Then, with impeccable timing, the elevator doors chose that exact moment to open, and Winter breathed a sigh of relief, and adjusting his neck tie. "Well, this had been fun, but I've gotta get to my dorm, so bye," he said quickly, racing out the elevator door.

Breathing in the fresh air outside of the elevator, Winter allowed his shoulders to slump in relief. _Now_ he could focus entirely on becoming the best student he could be. Or so he thought, until he heard a carefree whistling noise following behind him. _Damn it._ Winter thought. It was bad enough that he had to share e a school with that dirty Sand. Now he had to share a _floor_ with him? He instantly pitied whatever poor shmuck had been roped into sharing a room with him.

 _Pound 223...Pound 224...Pound 225,_ Winter thought to himself, reading off the numbers on the doors, until he finally came to a single mahogany door with the text _#225._ Taking a quick breath, Winter reached out a hand to twist the doorknob, but as he did, his hand met someone else's...someone with familiar tanned skin...

"No," Winter said, instantly backing up. "No, no _no._ Not you." Qibli looked at Winter with mock hurt, placed a hand on his chest, and scoffed. _"Ugh! And here I was thinking that you actually liked me,"_ he said, playfully offended, then his mock frown broke into a wide smile, and he slugged Winter in the arm. Yes, he _slugged him in the arm._ This could _not_ be who he had to share a dorm with.

"Aw, come on, Ice. You'll learn to love me," he said playfully, and Winter glowered. "If I avoid you the next 365 days, then maybe I'll _start_ to have a good time at college," Winter growled, clenching his fists. smirking, Qibli reached for the doorknob, and twisted it.

Whatever lay behind that door, Winter was sure it couldn't be worse than the hell he had already faced.

He was wrong.

* * *

 **Hey guys! That concludes the first chapter of 'Roomates at 6 AM', and I hope you like it!**

 **Btw, I need to decide if I should use Carnelian or Peril, or if both, how should I do it? If you have nay ideas, please leave it in the comments, because I _really_ need to figure this out.**


	3. Chapter II: Kinkajou

**Hey guys, after some thought, I decided to write the story in first person, just because it fits me better. Sorry for the inconsistency, but I just feel that that's the best option fo** **r now.**

* * *

 _ **Kinkajou**_

The world is much more exciting when being viewed from a moving vehicle.

I mean, sure, walking is fine. You get to view everything at a slow, steady pace, take in the sights and sounds, stop to enjoy everything, which isn't so bad, and most of the other Rains wouldn't think so. But when you're in a bus, everything just feels so... _alive._ Staring outside a window, watching the world run together like paint, just gives you a certain... _rush,_ if you would say.

I've never been on a bus, so maybe I don't exactly speak from experience, but from what I could tell, this was absolutely worth it. When you're on a bus, the air tingles. Unlike a regular car, seats line the sides, and there are poles in the center. _Poles._ Like a firefighter. When I saw them, I could feel the curly crop of hair atop my head and my sundress swirling with excited shades of red, before I felt people's eyes burning into me at the sudden explosion of color. Slightly embarrassed, I turned my hair back to it's usual black and my sundress back to pink and yellow against my dark tan skin.

Apparently there were only two other RainWings on the bus, and neither had turned into a ball of color. Still, I didn't mind. The bus could use a bit of color. Grabbing hold of one the firefighter poles, I smiled gleefully as the bus rocked back and forth, letting out an excited cry, pumping my fist in the air. For some reason, other people kept staring at me, but I couldn't quite figure out why.

To my disappointment, however, the bus slowly came to a stop before a large brick building, students my age milling about in the courtyard. "Jade University." The bus driver spoke into the speaker, and I couldn't help it. A firey streak of red shot through my hair, before quickly returning to it's usual black. Releasing the pole from my grasp, I walked to the front of the door, just before I was about to leave though, the bus driver stopped me.

"Rainforest to Sky Kingdom is $34.00. Pay up," the driver, a Sea, said in a gristly voice. Looking inside my wallet, I realized I only had $20.00. Crap."U-Um..." Without looking, I threw the 20 and ran. In the courtyard, I stood for a moment, admiring the school, feeling my hair and dress turn a cherry red. As I stood among the few other students stepping out of the bus, I was bumped out of the way by someone, but I couldn't tell their race, or even gender, because their features were covered by a red hoodie.

As they went past me, I felt them bump against my exposed arm, and for a moment there was a stinging pain. "Ow!" I cried, slapping my arm against the spot where they had touched me. Slowly pulling away my hand, I found a small area of singed skin, about the size of a cigarette burn. Feeling myself turn red, this time with anger, I called back to the person, "smoking on campus isn't allowed," but if they heard me, they didn't care.

Huffing, I willed myself to turn back to my natural colors, then gripped the handle of my pink and yellow suitcase, starting towards the building. As I pushed open the revolving glass door, my mouth openly gaped at what I saw, and for a moment I just stood there, taking in the sights. The lobby was _amazing._ Was this where my classes would be held. Squealing, I gripped the handle of my suitcase a bit tighter, jumping in the air a little bit.

This was _it._ Really, actually, _college._ The big leagues. Whatever you want to call it, I was _here._ Very few Rains went to college, and as far as I knew, only me and a few other kids from the Rainforest were here as freshman. However, that only improved my mood. Here I was, making history as one of the few Rains to ever go to school. "Take that, history!" I called out to myself as I walked down the hall, calling out the class that I had almost failed in high school and almost kept me from coming here in the first place.

Shaking the thought out of my head, I skipped down the hallway, the backs of my flip-flops slapping against the tile floor. Eagerly, I rode in the elevator, watching the world fall away before me, before to loud ding sounded, announcing that I had reached my floor. Suddenly, I felt my heart pounding in my chest, rapidly thumping against my ribs. The people on this floor were the people that I would know for the next four years, the people that would become my classmates, my friends, maybe even my _best_ friend.

A streak of electric blue shot through my hair at the thought of making a best friend. My best friend _used_ to be Coconut, but it didn't take me too long to figure out that he didn't feel the same way, so right now I was in the best-friend market. Reaching out with a single tan hand, I felt my heart begin to beat rapidly again in my chest at the thought of my new best friend being behind this door. With a final breath, I reached out and opened the door.

And I absolutely loved what I saw.

In the pamphlet, Jade University had mentioned their dorms were nice, but I didn't think they were _this_ nice. It was huge. shaped like a short, fat L, with creamy white walls and a couch pushed against the top part of the L, the seat overlooking a flat-screen TV that someone _had_ to have brought from home, because no college could afford a flat-screen TV for everyone.

Seated on the couch was a young Night girl with dark brown skin, her straight black hair pulled out of her face with a single moon hair clip. Draping over her body was a mint-green sweater with the words _I'd Rather Be Reading_ displayed on the front in white block letters. Her crossed legs were covered with light blue, sung looking jeans, her feet showing warm looking brown boots.

In her hands, she held a copy of a book titled _Niagara and the Mage's Heir,_ her eyes intently scanning the pages. In the other part of the L, there seemed to be a makeshift kitchen, blue cabinets and a tiny kitchen island and sink covering the tile. That was all I could see for now, the various doors scattered throughout the walls suggested that the dorm had more to offer.

Gazing around, I realized that there was no one else in the dorm as of right now, so with a smile I skipped over to the couch and plopped down on the cushion next to the Night girl reading a book, who looked up, startled as I jolted the couch. Seeing no other way to introduce myself, I held out a single hand, beaming. "Hi, I'm Kinkajou! What's your name?" I asked, feeling my dress swirl with happy shades of pink and yellow.

For moment, the Night girl sat there, startled, not saying anything. "I...I um..." she stuttered, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. I cocked my head, confused. "I-I'm Moonwatcher. Moon, actually," she said, the words finally pouring out of her like a waterfall rushing past her lips. I hardly noticed, though, as I was too busy being happy that she had said something.

"Wow; is this whole place for us? It's so BIG!" I cried, standing up on the couch and throwing my arms out around me, beaming brightly. "I mean, two people in a place this big; that seems pretty crazy. Do you think all the dorms are like this? If they are, then this school must be run by like, a bajillionaire or something, because gosh. Did you bring that flat screen TV, because I didn't, and you don't seem like the type to bring a TV. Not that that's a bad thing! Reading is a good thing; you just seem like a bookish dragon or anything, just-"

Moon sat there for a second, eyes wide as she listened to what I said, as if she were having trouble keeping up with what I was saying. Which is crazy, because I talk as much as any other dragon should. Just as I was getting back into how this place was way too big for just two dragons, there was the sound of a lock clicking at the door. "Oh, cool! Are those other dormmates?" I asked, half to myself.

"Um, I think the dorms are co-ed, so we'll have some boys too," Moon said in a quiet voice, on of the few things I had heard her say since I had entered the room. As soon as the words escaped her lips, the door opened, and from the hallway spilled in two other people. It seemed like Moon was right; we were going to have a few boys in our dorm. The first one was a Sand, and I have to admit, he was kind of cute; he kept his hair in that one way where the sides are shaved low and the low is allowed to let grow, only the top was dyed kind of a sandy blonde, which is SUPER COOL when you think about it.

A small sprinkling of freckled dusted his noise along a small scar, and I noticed there was a small teardrop earring in his left ear, which I thought was really cool too. But the next dragon...damn, for an Ice he was HOT. And that's not a word that I like to use often. His moon pale hair swept over his black eyes, and his pale skin was kept in a fancy blue suit and red tie, which was really fancy, as if he expected this to be a fancy event, but he was still incredibly cute.

His black eyes gave him a kind of heroic yet tortured look, and the way he acted like he didn't care only made him more appealing. "That one Ice guy is cute," I whispered into Moon's ear, who instantly jolted away as if I had spit some radioactive fluid into her ear, as if boys were the last thing on her mind. Shrugging, I looked back over at the boys who entered our dorm.

The Sand was the first to notice us, and he regarded us with a huge grin, nudging the Ice in the side. "Hey Winter; buck up! Looks like I won't be the only one annoying you," he said, which seemed to make the Ice, who was apparently Winter, flush blue and scowl. I, on the other hand, waved in a friendly way while Moon looked like she was trying to disappear behind her book. "Hi! I'm Kinkajou!" I said brightly with a smile, then looked expectantly at Moon.

Peering out from behind her book, Moon looked at me with my hopeful eyes, then gave a look as if she were giving in, and looked up at the boy. "I-I'm Moon," she said simply, and the Sand placed his hands on his hips. "I'm Qibli, and my friend here is Winter," he said, placing his elbow on Winter's shoulder, which warranted a look from Winter as if he had just heard the most ludicrous thing ever possible.

"We're _not_ friends." Winter hissed, removing Qibli's elbow from his shoulder as if it were a dirty rag. "I met him on the elevator." Qibli, on the other hand, simply shrugged. "If you say so..." he said, sitting at a stool at the kitchen counter and rifling through his satchel, which appeared to be the only thing he had brought with him. Ignoring him, Winter rolled his eyes and crossed the room to Moon and I, his arms crossed.

"So, are you two the only one's here, or is there someone else?" He said in a matter-of-fact voice that sounded as if it had been practiced. Just as I was about to say something, Moon spoke up, which was something I hadn't heard her do on her own. "Actually there was another dragon when I got here. A Sky; I think her name was Carnelian. Plus, there's supposed to be one of each tribe in each dorm, so there should be a Sea and a Mud coming soon."

"I hope it's someone with a sense of humor," Qibli shot from the island, his gaze directed at Winter. Scowling, Winter rolled his eyes, and grabbed his suitcase. "I'm going to our room," he muttered, dragging his suitcase along with him, and reaching out to open a door. Just as he was about to though, Moon opened her mouth, as if she were about to saw something urgent, but Qibli quickly covered her mouth, shaking his head.

I realized odd muffling sounds were escaping him, and the corner of his lip was twitching as if he were trying not to smile. I arched an eyebrow. For some reason, both of them knew something I didn't. Still, I said nothing as I watched Winter twist open the doorknob, then step inside the room, and his face instantly went pale.

 _"What the hell?"_ A voice shrieked, and not a split second later, there was a sharp whistling noise as a blade whipped through the air, sticking itself in the door a few inches from Winter's head. _"Sorry!"_ He exclaimed, quickly shutting the door and leaning against the wall for a second, catching his breath. It was then that I noticed the sign hung on the door: _Girl's Room._

Whereas Moon seemed to be in shock, Qibli doubled over, his face red from laughter. "Aw man, did you see that..." he said through gasps. Winter scowled, his face flushed blue, and instantly turned around, opening the door marked boys. "Who was that?" I asked, shots of shocked orange spiking through my air and dress. "Um...that was Carnelian..." Moon said in a small voice, and Qibli lay practically sprawled on the floor in laughter.

Winter, obviously still angry, shouted; "it's not funny!" However, I found a small smile tugging at the corner of my lip. "Would you shut up?" A sharp voice cried, and a girl stuck her head out of the door that Winter just opened. She was tall, with small muscles rippling under her pale skin, and her auburn hair (which was the color of most Sky hair) hung loosely around her shoulders.

Stuffing her hands into a bright red denim jacket with flames on it, the Sky who had to be Carnelian shot each of them angry glares. "I didn't come to this school to get a bunch of freaks as roommates and be stalked by a pervert," she hissed, which warranted a loud groan from behind Winter's door. "So could you guys just back off?" With that, Carnelian slammed the door, causing one of the pictures to shake on the wall.

"Moody." I huffed crossing my arms. "I mean, she seemed to be in a _really_ bad mood. I totally would have given her a mango!" I said, digging the sweet fruit out of my bag. Moon looked up a moment from her book, and I noticed a tiny smile tugging at the corner of her lips, and I smiled back. To be honest, Moon confused me a little bit. While coming here from the rain forest, I figured that if I had a Night as a roommate, they would probably be really stuck up and lier, like every other Night I had met.

But so far, Moon seemed to be really nice. She was a bit shy, but I could deal with shy. It was boring I couldn't work with. But come to think of it, everyone seemed pretty nice. Heck, even Carnelian could be really nice; she could just be in a really bad mood! With a smile, I sat down beside Moon and began to bite into my mango, the sweet juices washing over my tongue putting me in a good mood.

Maybe college wouldn't be that bad.


	4. Chapter III: Turtle

**Okay, I know I know-I _said_ I was going to write in first person, but now that I'm doing it I don't think that it's the best choice for me...so I'm switching back to third person. **

**_*cue booing and hissing*_**

 **Yes, yes, curse my inconsistency, but I think I finally settled on what I want to do. Okay? Good.**

* * *

 _ **Turtle**_

 _"But your majesty," Crab began, looking up at the queen in disbelief. Queen Starfish looked down at Crab condescendingly, arching a single eyebrow. "You-you can't possibly expect me to find the stone of Eclipso with-with him." Crab shot a sideways glance at Gannet, who was casually fiddling with his hair in the corner and pretending not to care. "Who, me?" Gannet cooed, blinking as innocently as he could. Just the sight made Crab want to fling the arrogant little dick off the gorge._ _As he gritted his teeth, Queen Starfish looked down at Crab, twining her claws together. "Crab, Gannet is perfectly-"_

"Ooh, what's this?" Anemone asked eagerly, reaching over the armrest that separated her and Turtle's seat, and eagerly grabbing the laptop he held in his hands. As soon as the laptop left his lap, and Crab and Gannet's world disappeared before his eyes, Turtle's rapidly typing fingers were left grasping empty air. "Hey! Give that back!" Turtle cried, his blue-green bangs falling in his face as he reached over his seat to make a wild grab for his laptop.

 _"CGSE3."_ Anemone read from the name of the document, and her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "CGSE3? What's that supposed to mean?" In her confusion, Turtle was able to snatch his laptop back, using his wrist to wipe the fingerprints off the screen. "N-Nothing. Nothing at all!" He insisted, feeling the skin beneath the lights on his cheeks flush red.

Anemone huffed, slumping down in her seat. "You're no fun," she muttered, and from her carseat, Auklet giggled. "Yeah! You're no fun!" She declared, trying to imitate Anemone's motion of crossing her arms and slumping down in her seat. The only different, Turtle noticed, was that when Anemone did it it came off as upsetting, whereas when Auklet did it with her chubby arms and green hair tied up in ponytails, it looked totally adorable and Turtle had to smile a little, even if Aukelt wouldn't admit she was 'cute'.

CGSE3. Crab and Gannet and the Stone of Eclipso Chapter 3. The next chapter of his story. Which of course, no human being other than himself would ever read, certainly not judgy little Anemone. It wasn't that she _tried_ to be judgy; it just came off that way, and Turtle was 98% she got it from her mother. Peering from his seat in the limo, Turtle watched Queen Coral fix her makeup in her hand mirror, applying a layer of bright red lipstick.

"Mommy, can I go to college too?" Auklet asked, putting on her sweetest smile, and Turtle had to admit, Auklet knew how to work her mother. Usually when she tilted her head to one side, clasped her hands together and blinked with her large, dark green eyes, Queen Coral's heart would melt and she would get whatever she wanted. Today, however, Queen Coral was forced to shake her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie-but you can say good-bye to Anemone!" She said, planting a kiss on Anemone's head, and causing the princess to go into a fit. "Ack, mom-stop it!" Anemone cried, trying to shove her mother away as Queen Coral enwrapped her in a large hug. "Well...I guess this is good-bye," Queen Coral said and the limousine pulled up to Jade University's dorms, tears coming to her eyes. Anemone mimed a gagging motion to Auklet, which caused the little girl to giggle.

With a sigh, Turtle stuffed his laptop into his brown backpack, which contained the few belongings that Turtle had brought to Jade University. It wasn't like he didn't have a lot; he just didn't have as big of a desire for material items as some of his siblings. His laptop, along with the few other things he had brought, could fit snugly into his bag and sling over his back.

Swinging open the car door, Turtle landed on the pavement, and held up his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sun, rubbing his arms a little bit. It was a little warm, but nowhere near as hot at the tropical temperature of the Sea Kingdom he was used to. Looking around, Turtle realized he had never seen so many different races. The dark complexions of Nights mixed with the pale skin of Ices roamed around the courtyard, colorful outbursts of Rains mingling with the olive and dull complexion of Muds.

Everywhere he looked, there were people, some with tattoos, some hugging their friends and texting, some sitting in the corners smoking and flipping off anyone who gave them a sideways glance. He noticed that a lot of people were walking by, talking into their phones, some were sitting on benches and reading. Everyone looked so...grown, doing their own thing.

Just watching was giving Turtle anxiety. For a moment, he just stood there, watching the whirlwinds of people, his lips slightly parted as he watched. _Why are there so many people?_ He thought, shifting nervously from foot to foot. From what he had read online, Jade University was a fairly new school; hardly what he expected to be 'busy and bustling' right now. In fact, that was just one of the reasons he had picked this school above all the others.

Shifting from foot to foot as his stomach churned inside of him, Turtle let out a grunt as Anemone shoved past him, holding her pale pink suitcase in her hand, gazing up in amazement at the building. "Wow," she marveled. "This is amazing!" From the car, a Sea boy with pale gray-blue hair and an angry expression climbed out, three large bags and a suitcase clasped in his arms. "Yeah-pretty amazing princess," Gill grunted from behind Anemone's luggage.

Turtle barely heard him; he was too busy gazing at the campus. "Look at all the people," he and Anemone said in unison, only when he said it he sounded much, much less eager than Anemone. "I bet this campus had a whole cafe and a library and restaurant not that far from here, like they do in movies! This school is probably so perfect, they probably don't even have weed on campus! Ew, except for that guy, maybe not. Who do you think my dorm mate is? Do you think it's one of you? Oh, three moons, I hope it's not one of you," Anemone rambled on, continuing to talk as Gill grunted under the weight of her bags.

Sighing, Turtle shook his head. It was easy for Anemone to be so excited about college; having lived as a princess in the Kingdom of the Sea her whole life, she always got everything she wanted, and probably expected to instantly be one of those popular, sexy girls that she always saw in those college movies she watched. In fact, Turtle could actually see Anemone becoming instantly popular, though whether that was because people actually chose to be her friend or because she bought their friendship, he wasn't sure yet.

As Anemone led him and Gill into the building, Turtle kept his head down, trying not to be noticed, though he knew noticing him would be next to impossibly while he was standing next to Anemone. To be honest, the Sea princess was almost the definition of shiny. While Anemone often took her gifts for granted, the constant things she got from Queen Coral made her stand out tremendously from the other students.

As Anemone walked down the hallway, large strings of pearls draped around her neck reflected the light from the windows, and her pale pinkish-blue hair tumbled down her head in pretty curls. While she had a lot of dresses that most people would expect princesses to wear, today she had insisted on wearing one of her many, _many_ designer outfits; a mini-skirt, blouse and headband, even in early fall.

Walking beside the shiny princess made it easy for Turtle to slip away unseen, making his way to the stairs while Anemone and Gill walked to the elevator. It wasn't that he didn't like them; he just needed some time to think, and walking helped clear his head.

Climbing up the several flights of stairs to his dorm, Turtle tried repeatedly to calm his jittery nerves. So there were a lot of students. _Big deal._ They were all so busy with their own lives, hardly anyone would have the bandwidth to pay any attention to a jittery Sea, even if he was a prince. With his luck, his dorm mate would probably be some big brute who did wrestling and hung out with girls and spent every night drinking and smoking weed. And that would leave Turtle to himself, with nothing better to do than read, write, and take classes on reading and writing.

Just the thought made Turtle smile a little. Yes, that was exactly what he had to do. He came to this school to major in English so he would spend the next four years doing nothing but reading and writing, not worry about what other students thought of him; he could do that all he wanted at home. With a little more bounce in his step, Turtle scaled the rest of the stairs leading to his dorm, which according to the e-mail he got, was on floor three.

 _Pound 225,_ Turtle read from the door as he walked down the hallway. If he remembered correctly, this was the dorm that his e-mail had directed him to. With shaky hands, the young Sea prince reached out for the doorknob, clasping the golden surface in his hands, and twisted the knob...

Instantly to be met with a knife being thrown towards an Ice boy.

"Nope," Turtle said, shutting the door and turning around to lean against it. No, no, no. This was _not_ what he signed up for. He expected civilized conversation and writing, not attempted murder. Should he get the dean? Damn it, who even _was_ the dean? He wanted to say it was Tsunami, whom he had heard about many times from Anemone and the oldest of Queen Coral's three daughters, but he didn't even know where her office was, or if she even _had_ an office.

Trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, he debated calling the police, but decided it probably wouldn't be worth it if there wasn't an actual body. Muttering a quick prayer that he didn't get stabbed in the head, Turtle carefully pried open the door his dark green eyes carefully peering into the room. To his relief, there wasn't any blood, just a very upset looking Night girl, a Sand boy who looked like he had just seen the funniest thing in the world, and a Rain girl who was casually eating a mango and looked completely blissed out in doing so.

Turtle arched an eyebrow, wondering how they could be so calm in the face of an attempted homicide. Maybe there wasn't really a knife. Maybe he was just seeing things. Reluctantly, Turtle pried back the door, and carefully placed one foot in front of the other, slowly making his way into the dorm. It was bigger than he expected, for one, with much more people. Maybe his dorm mate had already made some friends and invited some people over?

Quietly edging his way around the counter, Turtle caught sight of two doors, one marked _Boys_ and the other _Girls._ Instantly his heart sank. What was this, some kind of community home? Obviously there were enough people living here for them to have to label which gender went in which dorm. Turtle, in all honesty, wasn't great when it came to large groups of people. He was better when it was one-on-one; as Anemone described it, Turtle didn't like it when a room was too "people-y".

Still, the Boy's room was probably better than this whole commons area, and chances are he would have at least a little bit of privacy, and he would keep quiet. If he kept quiet, no one would notice him, and if no one noticed him, no one would realize his secret-

"Oooh, look, a new dorm mate!" A voice squealed, and startled, Turtle whipped around, silently cursing himself for being so noticeable. The blissed out Rain girl who was eating a mango had stood up from her seat on the couch to race over and greet him, a bright smile crossing over her face. Her hair and sundress swirled with various shades of pink and yellow, her dark green eyes bright and wide.

Her dark olive skin was just slightly lighter from the Night girl, as Rain skin was darkened from the heat of the rain forest, but this girl's had a certain glow to it like ever her skin was happy, and her face seemed to be locked in a state of perpetual excitement and joy, something Turtle had never expected from what he heard of the 'lazy Rains'. As she stood before, Turtle, she bounced on her heels, smiling as wide as she could. In fact, Turtle even had to admit she was kind of pretty.

"Hi! I'm Kinkajou," the Rain girl greeted, sticking out a single hand. After a moment of registering, Turtle reached out his own hand, which he realized was painfully clammy as he took Kinkajou's warm hand in his own. Kinkajou didn't seem to notice however, as she gave his hand a hearty shake, then looked at him expectantly. _What? Did I do something already?_ Turtle wondered, worried she could feel the power tingling in his fingertips, but realized with relief that she was just expecting his name.

"T-Turtle," he stuttered, feeling like the most idiotic flounder in the ocean-er, school. Kinkajou, however, didn't seem to notice, and regarded him with a single beam. "Well, Turtle, that's Qibil and Moon, and in there is Carnelian, and in there is Winter," Kinkajou said, pointing to the Night, the Sand, the girl's room and the boy's room in turn. As she said the name _Winter,_ he noticed she said it kind of dreamily, and Turtle found that for some reason that hand his fingers itch in an unpleasant way.

"Hey," The Sand said, walking over to Turtle and giving him a fist bump, which startled him a little bit. "I'm Qibli, but you probably already knew that," he said, shooting a quick glance at Kinkajou who smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Turtle gulped, giving a small nod. "Yeah, I'm-"

"Wait, hang on!" Kinkajou suddenly cried, racing forward and holding out one of Turtle's arms. "You have all these weird whirling patterns on your arms...Queen Glory told me that her friend Tsunami had that, and only Sea royalty have that! Are you king of the Seas?" At the accusation, Turtle almost laughed. Almost. If he answered truthfully, that would get him unwanted attention, but if he lied in the first five minutes, that may not make the best impression. "Um...prince," he corrected quietly, yanking his arm back and rubbing it self-consciously.

Kinkajou's green eyes widened so that they resembled saucers. "Woah, cool! Do you have like, a bunch of crowns and servants and gemstones! Oh, I bet this thing on your arm is worth like, a bajillion-gazillion-quadramillion dollars!" Kinkajou cried, tripping over her own words as she pointed to the golden armband on Turtle's arm that twined around three black rocks. Turtle felt his face flush red; Kinkajou, Qibli, and that Night girl, (Moon was it?) we all watching him with interested looks, like he was the most special thing on the planet.

This was _not_ what he wanted at all. After years of staying successfully hidden from the prying eyes of his family, _now_ was when he got the most attention? His stomach began to churn with nervous energy as he felt everyone's eyes on him, and for some reason he felt there were ears behind closed doors listening in as well. "Um, e-excuse me," Turtle said as quickly as he could, ducking under Qibli's outstretched arm and rushing to the nearest bathroom. As soon as the door was locked, he realized the oddity of what he had done, and placed his face into his hands.

Great. _Randomly rushing off to the bathroom in the middle of a conversation was a great first impression, wasn't it Turtle,_ the Sea berated to himself. Well, no point in coming out now. He might as well wait until they were all in different rooms before coming out. Digging in his bag, Turtle pulled out his laptop and opened up CGSE3, picking up right where he left off.

 _As he gritted his teeth, Queen Starfish looked down at Crab, twining her claws together. "Crab, Gannet is perfectly capable of doing something as tremendous as this. As my top knights, you two seemed like the most likely candidates to fetch the stone of Eclipso."_

As he wrote, Turtle stopped. For some reason, he couldn't figure out where to make the story move from there.

Sighing, Turtle slumped against the bathroom door.

So far college was off to a great start.


	5. Chapter IV: Peril

**_Peril_**

 _pyromania (n.) an obsessive desire to set fire to things_

As far as Peril knew, she didn't have pyromania. At least, she thought she didn't. Did an "obsessive desire" count when you were constantly doing it with no conscious thought towards it? Whatever, maybe it did. From the news, she had seen that pyromaniacs were often crazy and homicidal, and in that case Peril was a pyromaniac, and the worst one at that.

Releasing a sigh, Peril slouched down a little on the rooftop, allowing her legs to dangle over the edge, swinging casually and hitting against the brick building. Being worried about falling wasn't an issue for her; while she could still very well accidentally plummet over the side of the dorms, she found the chances of that actually happening very low. When someone comes onto the roof as often as she has, adapting kind of happens naturally.

If she was going to fall, she would have done it by now, so it wasn't a big worry for her. And even if falling was an issue; that still wouldn't have stopped her. At this point, the rooftops of Jade University's dorms were only place she could count on for solitude and brought her peace, so even if sitting right on the edge of the roof was considered dangerous, she wouldn't give it up for anything.

Peering over the edge of the building, Peril watched the hundreds of students below milling about below, looking like tiny ants scurrying around with nothing to do. The thought almost made her smile; if she adjusted herself just the right way, she could almost squish them under her Nike.

This was just what she needed. With the whole onslaught of students coming from all over the continent, Peril had getting whole waves of extreme anxiety as she felt the silence that came when she walked by a conversation, and the whispers that followed her as she passed.

 _"Did you see her eyes..they were so blue...I thought she was a Sky!"_

 _"Ow, I think she burned my arm!"_

 _"What's her deal?"_

Well; no matter. She didn't exactly wake up in the morning to deal with the shit that people constantly gave her, but that didn't mean that she had the patience to deal with it all day either. Clay had been kind to offer her a home at his university, especially when she wasn't even a student, but his too-big heart had glazed over the fact that living at Jade University came with one crucial flaw: actually interacting with other people.

 _I guess it's gonna be another roof day,_ Peril thought to herself grimly as she turned around, swinging her legs over the ledge of the roof and landing with a soft thump on the concrete surface. It wasn't as if roof days were bad, though; even though she technically _did_ have a room here, the roof was kind of like her second home. Well, more like make-shift home, but it still worked. It was nothing fancy, but to her, it was paradise.

In the center of the rooftop, a single rug sat, muted red and stitched with white threads. On either side of the rug, two couches sat, or rather woven boxes with pillows topping them. In the center of it was a single fire pit, one of the cheap metal ones that you could get off of for $30. While it may not seem like much, this place had been Peril's home for the past three months, her sanctuary, her safe place.

Just seeing it, Peril felt some of the tension leave her body, knowing that when she was here, she was actually safe from all the ridicule below. Pulling her crimson red hood over her hair, Peril flopped onto a single couch, placing her hands on her stomach so that the exposed surface didn't make contact with the cushions. Allowing a thin smile to split between her lips, Peril stared up at the sky, allowing her mind to wander, as she often did on roof days.

She didn't know how much time passed; one, maybe two hours, (she might have fallen asleep) before she felt a hand tapping on her shoulder. Startled, Peril shot into the air, her hands slamming onto the couch cushions before she knew what she was doing. "What? Who's there?" She muttered groggily, before the smell of smoke reached her nose, and she realized just where her hands were.

Letting out a yelp of surprise, Peril leaped up from her seat on the couch where two small fires bloomed from where her hands had once been, and began to devour the surface of the couch. Now that she was fully awake, Peril's eyes darted over the rooftop, where the fire spread quickly over the couch, and the same person that had tapped her shoulder rushed to put it out.

Even seeing Clay right now, Peril felt her fingertips begin to tingle, and her heartbeat leaped into her throat. A healthy mix of strong and kind, Peril couldn't see anything wrong with Clay. The Mud's light brown skin was slightly darker from other Muds, tanned from spending so much time outside. His dark brown was long and untamed, slightly wavy and framing his face in a most appealing, slightly sexy look.

As he reached for the bucket of water that Peril kept behind the couch for situations exactly like this one, muscles rippling under his jacket sleeves, Peril got the slightly giddy feeling that she often did whenever he was around, and she found herself bouncing on the balls of her feet. _Be normal, be normal, be NORMAL FOR ONCE,_ she screamed to herself in her mind as Clay dumped the bucket of water on the fire, which had threatened to consume the entire couch.

"Let me guess...another roof day?" Clay said casually as he smothered the fire with the water, and Peril gave a simple nod. "Since it's the first day, with new students and everything, I thought I would just...you know...stay out of the way and stuff," she muttered, rubbing her arm and casually leaving out the fact that she could accidentally murder any one of the students (which Tsunami and Glory never exactly let her forget).

With a sigh, Clay rubbed his temples and placed a single hand on Peril's shoulder, which caused the young Sky girl to stiffen up, feeling as if electric jolts were shooting through her body where Clay's hand had touched her. "Come on Peril; you know you could make some friends here if you actually tried." Peril loved Clay; but right now he sounded so much like some teacher in a cheesy inspirational movie that she almost keeled over laughing, but managed to restrain it down to a simple twitching motion near her lip.

Still, she could see the hope brimming in Clay's eyes, hope that she obviously didn't deserve. Clay actually _wanted_ her to do well here, and actually had some hope that she could actually be liked, which was more than she could say for the rest of the world. Biting down on her lip, Peril finally released a sigh and fished around in her hoodie pocket, taking out a pack of cigarettes.

Lighting one with the tip of her finger, Peril stuck one past her lips and took a few relieving puffs. "Okay Clay...I'll try," she promised, though even as she said it she barely believed it herself.

Pressing his lips together, Clay observed Peril for another moment, then released a sigh, the breath warming his lips. "I'm serious though, Peril. You can't spend the whole school year on the roof." Shrugging, Peril stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Why not? I did it the whole summer," she replied, arching and eyebrow, and at that Clay gave a small smile, the kind of smile he gave when he had really nice intentions that usually turned out well, but Peril hated every step of the way.

"Because..." he said in a drawn out voice, and Peril felt her heart sink to her stomach. _Oh no,_ she thought, tensing up a little bit. For some reason, she felt like she had unknowingly stepped into some kind of death trap.

"Because I have a special job for you this year. How does _student aid_ sound to you?" He said, waving his large, tanned hands like jazz hands. For a moment, Peril sat in complete silence, letting the words ring out around them, then completely doubled over, laughter bubbling over her lips. Her hands clutched at her stomach, preventing her from accidentally slamming them on the floor and setting the whole building ablaze.

"Oh man, Clay-that is _rich,_ " she chuckled, wiping a single tear from her eye, and Clay gave her a look that said, _I wasn't joking._ "Me? Student aid? And what exactly did Tsunami and Glory have to say about this? That I'm the worst person possible for the job? That I'll actually _put them_ in first aid? Because I'm sorry to break it to you Clay, but they're right." It was a cold truth, but it was the truth nonetheless.

She, Peril, the dragon who had grown up in solitude, her only interactions being with Queen Scarlet, the people she killed, and the people that gave her cruel comments, was seriously being chosen to comfort students and help them around the school? "Sorry Clay...but I don't think that's going to work out. I'm perfectly happy up here on my roof," she declared, flopping down on the couch, making sure her hood was up so that her flaming locks of auburn hair didn't make contact with the couch.

With another sigh, Clay looked up at Peril with those big puppy dog eyes that he made without realizing, which made them even more adorable, and made Peril feel instantly guilty for whatever she had done to cause those puppy dog eyes. "Well...I'm afraid that's going to be a problem, because I...um...well I..."

"Hey, Clay, are you done yet? Because Sora and I are kind of getting restless back here."

Before Clay could finish whatever he was struggling to say, someone opened the door to the roof, the handle opening with a soft _click,_ and from it emerged another dragon. He looked like Clay, only a bit smaller, and more rugged, if that was the only way to put it. He was a Mud, no doubt about it; but no Mud Peril had met so far was as handsome as Clay, and this was no exception.

He may be more handsome (yet no where near Clay levels) but most of it seemed to be hidden under a thick layer of grime. He had two large brown eyes, deep and intelligent, though you wouldn't be able to tell because one of them was hidden under a lock of his thick, wavy brown hair. Just below his neck, his chest was covered with a simple orange tunic t-shirt, the sleeves and collar a pure white. His feet were covered in sandals, and when he spoke, it was quiet, but also gentle.

Peril raised her eyebrows at the boy; for some reason, she figured that this had been the "problem" Clay was talking about. Raising her eyebrows, she gave Clay a simple look that clearly said, _what the fuck is this?_

"Peril...this is my brother, Umber," Clay said guiltily, wrapping an arm around Umber, who playfully punched him in the chest. "And-hey, where's Sora?"

"Right here," whispered a timid voice, and from the door came another Mud, this time a girl. She was very pretty, with clear tanned skin and a thin sprinkling of freckles across her nose, her wavy hair tucked behind her ears. Her build was small and slim, her only articles of clothing a white jumper with black accents and two white flats. She walked slowly, coming to stand beside Clay and Umber, and as she walked she didn't even smile.

"Right-that's my sister, Sora," he pointed out, and he turned back to Peril, beaming brightly. Peril did not return the smile. "These two are your first assignment as student aid. All you have to do is just show them to their rooms, help them out a bit, make them feel at home!" When Clay said it, it sounded so easy, something a normal person should be able to do without trouble. Peril might be able to do it, to-if she didn't interact with them or touch them at all. Actually, scratch that. Even if she did do all that, they would still feel uncomfortable with her, just because she was _her._

 _"Riiiiiight,"_ Peril muttered. Right now, there were a few things she wanted to get out, but apparently she couldn't because Umber and Sora still looked somewhat innocent. With a sigh, Peril reluctantly shoved herself out of the seat, and stood before the two of them. As she approached them, the one called Sora seemed to back up a little, and Umber regarded her with curious eyes.

Just then, Peril realized how intimidating she must appear. With her flaming auburn hair, dyed a flaming orange at the end and combed to one side, her red hoodie, her flaming eyes and her cigarette sticking out of her mouth, Peril realized she must look like a criminal, or even a slut. Spitting the cigarette out over the side of the roof, Peril turned back towards them and tried to give the two siblings her most winning smile, which apparently only caused Sora's eyes to widen and slowly move behind Umber.

Frowning, Peril allowed the smile to drop. "Right," she muttered. "Let's get this over with...

* * *

 **Yeah, sorry if things are going slow, but this chapter was getting REALLY long so I had to cut part of it out!**


	6. Chapter V: Umber

**Hey guys; sorry about the big delay with chapters! I've had a lot of homework recently, and for a while I ran into a big writers' block while writing this chapter, so there was that. Also, there was this big issue with re-writing the prologue since I thought the original wasn't the best, but altogether that's why it announced that there was an update when there was no new chapter, so yeah.**

* * *

Umber

If Umber had anything to learn, it was that in the past few months, change wasn't always good.

Oh sure, that's not what Reed said. Any time he brought any of this up with his older brother, Reed would jest scoff and insist that everything was fine, then pat Umber on the shoulder and walk away. As much as he loved Reed, this always grated on his nerves at how much Reed was ignoring the problem. No matter what Reed tried to pass off, he and his siblings were not fine.

As much as Umber loved Clay now, ever since he had shown up at their home in the marshes, everything hadn't exactly gotten better. Clay's arrival, while everyone was estatic to meet him, had made Reed unsure of his spot as bigwing and given him low self-esteem, and although he never outright said it, Umber could recognize the signs right away. After Crane's death though, things had quickly gone from bad to worse. Sora, being the shy and quiet one, had rarely spoken at all after her death, and Marsh hadn't faired much better.

The young Mud had started to suffer from anxiety, often waking up screaming in the middle of the night, and start sobbing uncontrollably until either Reed or Pheasant had to fall asleep with him in bed. Not to mention Marsh had also had several panic attacks in the last few months.

"You don't have to worry about it," was the same sentence Umber had heard his older siblings repeat to him over and over again, as being the youngest and seemingly without issues, hardly anyone would take him seriously. But even though they were careful to hide the issues around him, Umber always noticed; moments when Reed didn't seem quite so sure of himself, moments when Pheasant was up late worrying about her siblings, moments when Sora refused to talk to anyone, moments when Marsh looked like he was close to another panic attack.

None of it was right. None of it. When Umber had heard Reed and Pheasant talking in the den one night, his heart had nearly stopped. "You know, if Clay was nice enough to offer us a spot, then maybe we should take it," Pheasant had said, but Reed had shaken his head. "No. I can't leave the Mud Kingdom. I just got a new job working for Queen Moorhen; and once I start getting paid, everything will be great again, just trust me."

"Reed, I can't afford to trust you right now. Marsh's anxiety is getting worse, Sora's scared and jumpy all the time, and we can't hide all of this from Umber forever." Yeah, no kidding, Umber had thought as he listened in. Reed had slumped forward, his dark brown bangs hanging in his eyes as he rubbed his temples. "So what? We're just supposed to send half of our family away? Pheasant, this family is already falling apart."

Pheasant had stood there, crossing her arms. In the past few months, Umber had learned that Pheasant could be pretty intimidating when she wanted to, with her pixie haircut and eyes that blazed like fire. Normally she didn't influence Reed's decisions like this, him being the bigwing and all, but Reed's latest mental issues constantly doubting himself and low self-esteem had forced her to take some action. "That family needs to heal. You and I can do some work for Queen Moorhen, and Umber, Marsh and Sora can all go to Jade University. You need some time to get your edge back, and maybe a new environment will help Marsh and Sora anyways."

Umber had stood there, frozen. They were sending them away? After graduating high school, Umber had never really thought about college, but the three hour plane trip here followed by a forty-five minute drive had proved otherwise. The last thing Reed had said to them before they had all gotten out of the car was the family motto. "Hey, remember champ," he had said, punching him in the arm. "Brother and sister, together as friends,"

"Ready to face whatever life sends," Umber had finished, allowing Reed to mess up his hair for once. "Now go and change the world," Pheasant had said, before driving off, and leaving him, Sora and Marsh at a new school all on their own. However, Marsh had insisted on sitting on a bench next to the school for a few moments, and Umber and Sora didn't stop him, though Umber thought so many people milling around was messing with his anxiety, as he noticed Marsh sweating even though it was relatively cold.

So when Clay had come to collect the three of them, he had only gotten Umber and Sora, Marsh insisting he could find his own room and would catch up later. And after that had come one of the most interesting people Umber had ever seen.

She was a Sky, with lightly tanned skin and long legs. Her amber orange hair was brushed to one side of her head in flaming locks, the ends dyed a vibrant orange at the end to make it look like her hair was being engulfed in flames. She walked in a strange way, like she was both loose and tense at the same time, which Umber found oddly interesting. She kept her hands confined to the pockets of her hoodie at all time, which Umber found just a little unusual.

But the oddest thing was her eyes. They were electric blue, not amber like any other Sky Umber had seen, and they scanned the world as if they were wary of what might happen if she let her guard down. As they walked through the school hallways, Umber arched an eye at her. So far, it hadn't seemed like she was really good with-well, people, which was odd, because if she was a student guide, that was apparently her job.

Clay seemed to trust her though, and so far he trusted Clay pretty well, so this girl-Peril, her name was?-was probably a good choice. "Yeah, this is the Gold Dorm, one of the five dorms on campus," Peril was explaining as she led them through the hallway of a large brick building with lots of windows. Looking around, Umber noticed the cream-colored walls, signifying that it was the gold dorm, and wondered for a moment if all the dorms were like that.

"Um...girl, whatever-your-name-was, Clay told me that you're apparently in dorm #205," Peril said, looking at Sora, who flushed slightly red when Peril called her "whatever your name is", but didn't say anything, which didn't really surprise Umber.

However, as she said the words Peril just stood there, as if waiting for something to happen. "Well Are you going to go?" She asked, as if she were confused as to why Sora wasn't moving. Sora and Umber exchanged glances.

"Well—it's just as our student guide youre supposed to, you know, show us where our dorms are," Umber explained, wondering how she couldn't know this since it was basically her job. Peril, however, gave Umber a perplexed look.

"I am? Well _why the hell am I supposed to do that?_ You guys can find your own room; it's just common sense." She insisted, as if it were the most ridiculous thing she had ever encountered. Umber arched an eyebrow, coming quickly to the conclusion that she didn't actually work here.

Just as Umber was about to open his mouth to say something, Sora piped up quietly, "I mean...I can just find the room myself..." Peril placed her hands on her hips, as if to say, that's what you should have done in the first place! Umber glanced at Sora, and his sister simply shrugged, walking down the hall.

As soon as she was out of eyeshot, Umber looked over at Peril, who was already beginning to walk out of the building. Glancing back, she looked at Umber. "Well? Do you want to come to your dorm or not?" Eyebrows scrunching together, Umber ran to catch up to Peril, biting down on his lip. For the most part, the two of them walked in silence, until they stepped out into the courtyard, where five buildings, all made from brick all looked into a central courtyard.

"You're not a student aid, are you?" Umber asked as he felt the breeze outside hit him like an icy slap. Peril, seemingly unphased by the question, pulled a cigarette out of her pocket and stuck it into her mouth, unlit. "What gave it away?" She asked with a smirk. Umber bit the inside of his cheek. "I don't know- _everything_ really? It's kind of like you weren't even trying." At the accusation, Peril merely shrugged her shoulders and led the way towards a large brick building with green ivy in it, the words _Jade Dorm_ displayed on the front.

The inside was quite impressive, Umber thought, with a waterfall and everything, but right now he didn't take much notice. "Look-uh, what did you say your name was?"

"Umber."

"Well, Umber, here's the thing. You're here because you're brother gave you a scholarship right?"

Umber was so surprised with Peril's accuracy that for a moment he found himself unable to speak. "Um...well, I...I mean, he guess..."

"I'll take that as a yes. Well, anyway Umber, I'm here for the same reason, only I don't have a scholarship. I'm here for my own reasons, which quite frankly aren't any of your business, so how about you keep to yourself and I'll keep to mine." With that, Peril reached up and lightly dabbed the tip of her cigarette with her fingertip, and Umber watched in amazement as the tip began to glow a bright red from her touch.

 _No way._ As he watched, Umber's mouth gaped open (you don't actually get to see that in real life, but this appeared to be one of those times) in astonishment. "No way..." he murmured, and Peril gave him a curious look, the cigarette sticking past her lips. Then, realizing what he was gaping at, Peril's face quickly flushed red and she stuffed her hands back into the pockets of her hoodie. "Um, yeah, that...well..." she stuttered, scrambling for an explanation.

"You know, Clay mentioned to us at some point that he had a friend who was a fireskin, but I didn't realize it was you," Umber said, watching Peril as the cigarette smoked. At the mention of Peril though, a look of what could only be described as repressed joy crept across her face. "Really? Clay talked about me? He called me a friend? I mean, how did he say it, did he-" Catching herself, Peril realized she was rambling about Clay to a person she didn't know, and quickly stuffed her words back inside her mouth. However, Umber was the kind of person who noticed things, and her certainly noticed this.

 _Holy crap. She had a crush on my brother._

Peril however, didn't realize that Umber had noticed this, and quickly tried to change the subject before he did. "I mean-yeah, I'm a fireskin. Why do you care?" She mumbled, slightly defensive as if she were worried he would run off scared or start being angry with her.

Umber, however, gave a curious smile. "Well—I mean, it's pretty damn cool!" He exclaimed, using the closest thing he would ever get to cursing. "Can you like, roast marshmallows that way?" Perplexed, Peril gave him a confused look. "Did you here me right? I said _fireskin._ As in the word fire, that red hot stuff, followed by the word skin, meaning the stuff is in my skin. Do you understand that?"

"Um...yeah?" Umber muttered, slightly confused. "Why wouldn't I?" As they climbed into the elevator, Peril shot him a faint smile out of the corner of her eye, which was the closest to "happy" that Umber had seen her since he met her.

"No reason. It's just, you're a lot nicer than most other people I've met," Peril was saying, leaning against the wall of the elevator as she blew a puff from her cigarette. For a moment, Umber bit the inside of his cheek, his amber eyes gazing over the Sky standing before him. During the short time he had spent with this strange person, Umber had felt that for some reason he understood her in an odd way, and that wasn't just because he noticed things.

There was something about the tense way she walked, how she acted hostile when he questioned her about her fireskin, the way her eyes would scan the hallways as if she were afraid of something. For some reason, Umber felt there was a lot hidden under her cool, aloof exterior, who seemingly didn't care about anything. After years as the youngest, used to keeping quiet while his older siblings worked stuff out, Umber just felt like his brain was hardwired to notice the smallest details, simply used to being attentive and noticing things.

He had spent enough time under his own roof to realize when someone wasn't happy, and Peril obviously wasn't there. Still, people usually didn't have the best reactions when you called them out on their issues, so the young Mud instead simply leaned against the wall of the elevator, feeling the air below him push him and Peril up, up, up, both of them not quite knowing what would happen when they reached the top.

Before long, there was a familiar _ding_ noise, and the elevator came to a stop as the doors slowly slid open, revealing a long hallway with dark green walls. _I knew it,_ Umber thought, following Peril out of the elevator into the hallway, where doors stretched out to both sides of him, each of them holding a different number. _One of those doors is the place where I'll spend the next four years,_ Umber thought, the thought dawning on him for the first time. The possibility of him, Sora, and Marsh, alone far away from the Mud Kingdom, separated from Pheasant and Reed, was almost...scary.

"You okay?" Peril asked, and Umber realized he must of looked as anxious as he felt. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Umber gave a strained nod. "Just...nervous, that's all,  
he said, giving a forced smile. Peril didn't seem to buy it, as her eyebrows furrowed together, but she didn't question him any further. "You're in Pound 225," Peril explained, and Umber looked down at the key Clay had given him.

This was it. This was the moment when the next part of his life finally begun. Looking up, he realized that Peril hadn't walked away, but rather was looking at him almost...sadly. "Hey, do you want to...come with me? Check out the room?" Umber offered, and whatever Peril had been in, she instantly snapped out of it. "What? Oh, no, no, no, that's fine," she insisted, waving her hands for emphasis. "I mean...I would rather not be around other... _people,"_ Peril muttered, then cringed as if she thought that what she said had been completely stupid.

"Are-are you sure?" Umber stuttered, surprised at how adamant she had been. However, Peril was already pulling her hood over head, shoving her hands into her hoodie pocket, making her way towards the elevator. "Yeah, I'm sure," Peril said, as the familiar ding of the elevator sounded, and Peril began to step inside. For some reason, as she left, Umber found himself almost disappointed, which was odd, considering they hadn't even known each other for twenty minutes.

It was one of those feelings where if Reed had been here, he would have teased Umber about having a crush, but then again, Reed didn't know that Umber...didn't necessarily like girls. However, as Peril was stepping into the elevator, she paused for a moment, one foot in the hall, one in the elevator. "Hey Umber?" She began. Umber looked up.

"Thanks."

And with that, she was gone.

For a moment, Umber stood there, wondering what she meant to thank him for, but he figured that if it was important, he would figure it out later. Right now, the best thing he could do was get to his dorm; standing in the hall wondering about things he had no control over wouldn't get him anywhere. Releasing a sigh, the young slowly placed one foot forward, then another, until finally, he found his feet carrying him down the hall, towards whatever waited for him behind Pound 225.

He walked forward.

He found the door.

He twisted the doorknob.

And he stepped inside.


	7. Quick Author's Note

Hey everyone! First of all, I wanted to apologize for not posting in, well, forever. I've been kind of busy with things involving school and other things, and i just haven't had enough time for writing! However, I will be posting much more often, as I have some ideas for the story!

However, I do need some help deciding how this story is going to go. Should it be a continuous plot and story line that occasionally connect, like episodes of a TV show, or should it be one big, continuous plot? This has been nagging me for a while, so I could really use your help!

Also, so this doesn't violate the guidelines, and to help tide things over while I write the next chapter and things are decided for the story, here's a little mini-story thing Tsunami.

* * *

 **"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY; IF I WANT A MINT CHOCOLATE FRAPPE, I'M GETTING A MINT CHOCOLATE FRAPPE!"**

The cashier, a young Rain girl, sighed and rubbed her temples, her hair shimmering shades of emerald green and orange, which Tsunami was pretty sure meant annoyance and irritation ."Ma'am, I've told this to you already. If we're out of coffee beans, we can't very well make coffee. We're getting another shipment later today, but for now you could pick from our many pastries or-"

Feeling the blood rush to her face, Tsunami gripped the sides of the counter, before holding up a hand to silence the cashier. "You do know you're called Coffee World, right?" She started, and the cashier rolled her eyes. "Three moons-"

"Well without the coffee, you're just _World._ So basically, your name is a lie," Tsunami continued, pressing her fist onto the counter.

From behind Tsunami, a small hand tapped on her shoulder. "Um...Tsunami, don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit..." a tiny voice murmured, and Tsunami waved the hand off.

"Sunny, you may be happy with your cupcake, but I for one, AM NOT LEAVING UNTIL I GET MY COFFEE!" Tsunami roared, slamming a fist on the counter.

With a huff, Sunny crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks, something she always did when she was frustrated. Even angry, Tsunami thought, Sunny didn't look incredibly menacing. Unlike regular Sands, her skin was darker than most, which was probably due to the Night part of her. Her blonde cropping of hair, tied into a single ponytail, hung over her shoulder, tied up with a pink bow.

Tsunami had to admit it: even mad, Sunny looked adorable. However, adorable didn't bring coffee.

"Look." Tsunami said, weaving her fingers together and placing her elbows on the counter. "You know I want coffee. I know I want coffee. So stop pretending like you don't have coffee and just get me a mint chocolate frappe."

The Rain girl looked like she was about to explode, her hair now swirling with orange and red. "If I say we don't have any coffee beans, and gosh damn it, we don't have—"

"Macaw!" A voice suddenly yelled, and an older Sea boy with aquamarine hair flung open the door, his Coffee World apron flapping as they shoved the door open in excitement. "They just showed up with another delivery of coffee beans."

"Great!" Tsunami piped up, slamming her hands on the table. "Since she won't help me, can you get me a mint chocolate frappe?"

The cashier, who was apparently Macaw, looked like she was about to say something, but before she could the other clerk declared "coming right up!"

Five minutes later, Tsunami was sipping a mint chocolate frappe, a smug look on her face. "There," she said simply. "Now was that so hard?"

Macaw turned around and banged her head on the table.


	8. Chapter VI: Qibli

**_Qibli_**

* * *

When Qibli was four years old, his brother and sister had turned his favorite stuffed bear into food for their neighbor's dog.  
When he was eight, his mother had used a switchblade to slice open his nose, giving him a scar he still had today.  
When he turned ten, instead of getting a birthday cake he had been thrown in jail for a week for stealing a necklace from a jewelry store.  
When he was twelve, his mother had sold him like an item at the market to a woman he didn't even know.

So going to college had never exactly crossed his mind.

To be honest, he hadn't actually believed he was that original until he left the Scorpion Den, where immediately he felt he stuck out like a sore thumb. In the Scorpion Den, stories like this were common; the town wasn't exactly made up of prodigies and scholars. At least everyone there had been to jail at least once, it was impossible to walk anywhere without spotting some sort of injury, and so far Qibli had heard of a few other cases where children were sold like slaves.

Honestly, he always thought that he got off lucky. He ended up with Queen Thorn, the woman who changed his life forever, and the Outclaws had given him the family he never had. For once, he belonged somewhere, and he didn't want to leave. He was perfectly happy with spending the rest of his days serving Queen Thorn, helping her with whatever queenly-business she had to attain to, and basically just being a regular Outclaw.

Regular Outclaws didn't meet NightWing-SandWing hybrid dragonets of destiny. Regular Outclaws didn't get scholarships to universities miles away. Regular Outclaws basically just didn't leave the Sand Kingdom. Even on the bus ride to the school, even as he walked through the set of big glass doors, whether or not this was actually a good idea was still tossing itself around in Qibli's mind, bouncing around like it just couldn't settle. If he had to, he was ready to bolt back out those doors and sprint all the way back to the Sand Kingdom if he had to.

Right away, as Qibli stepped into the building labeled the Jade Dormitory, he knew that he wouldn't exactly be a 'regular student' no matter how much he tried. His simple clothes and lack of belongings didn't exactly match up with the privileged lives of everyone who basically hadn't lived in poverty their whole lives. It was then that Qibli was actually grateful for those diplomatic meetings that he had gone on with Queen Thorn; if he hadn't, he probably would have been humiliated by all the stares he got.

But by this point, he had learned something simple: if something was different, people didn't like it. And Qibli was perfectly okay with being different in that kind of way. While he would prefer to be a regular Outclaw serving Queen Thorn, when it came to the rest of the world he preferred to stand out.

Which is probably why he got so much amusement from that Ice he had seen in the elevator.

It wasn't as if he didn't like him; that Ice—Winter, was it? Yeah, it wasn't like he didn't like him. It was just the Ice's attitude, from the way he turned up his nose like he had a stick up his ass, and the way he lofted around on the cloud of him being a prince that just stuck out to Qibli as the kind of dragon that was so different from the dragons he had seen in the Scorpion Den.

The fact that he was able to be annoyed so easily though— _that_ was what really got Qibli. It was just like by simply existing the Ice seemed irritated, which, for some unexplainable reason, seemed hilarious to Qibli.

Which was probably why he practically fell out trying to coax him out of the boys' room.

"Come on Winter—it wasn't _that_ bad," Qibli said to the door, though the thought of an Ice prince being skewered like a shish kabob for being a pervert was enough to bring tears to his eyes from holding back laughter.

"I know you're laughing!" A muffled voice called, and Qibli allowed a small snicker to escape before managing to choke out. "What, laughing, who's laughing? Certainly not me, I'm not laughing! I don't even know what laughter _is,_ " he pronounced, adjusting an invisible neck tie like the one Winter wore. Even if Winter couldn't see it, Qibli could still sense the Ice's annoyance from behind the door, as he heard what sounded like a few curse words.

Raising his eyebrows, Qibli placed a hand over his mouth in mock shock. "By jove, Winter! You're not _cursing_ are you? And Ice prince would never curse, as all they are allowed to talk about is politics and ice!" He said, adjusting an imaginary monocle.

From behind him on the couch, Qibli heard a small giggle, and glanced over, recognizing the same dark skin and jet black hair he had seen walking in. It was that Night girl again, wasn't it? She was kind of cute, but for the most part she hadn't said anything to Qibli all day, keeping her nose in that book. He wasn't sure if she had even unpacked, but he wasn't about to go check, remembering what happened to Winter.

Speaking of Winter, there was a sudden silence as the sound of a lock clicking sounded in the door, followed by a door opening to reveal a very angry-looking Ice, his face flushed blue. "Yeah, yeah, big hoo-ha! I almost got skewered, are you happy, Sand?" Winter asked, shoving a finger in Qibli's chest. At this moment, Qibli figured it was a time when he should have been phased, but judging from Winter's rumpled clothes and blue flushed face, it was hard to take him seriously.

"Well, that part was kind of funny, but I wouldn't want you to die or anything, because then what would I do without my _best roommate?"_ He asked, purposely drawling out the words as he wrapped an arm around Winter's shoulders, which instantly caused the Ice to stiff up as his face turned an even deeper shade of blue. "I—well I—you just—" Winter stuttered, struggling for words, which made Qibli smirk.

Adjusting Winter into a headlock, Qibli bent down and started ruffling Winter's hair. "C'mon, admit it, you love me!" He cried over Winter's yelps of surprise."UNHAND ME YOU RUFFIAN!" He protested, which only made Qibli laugh harder.

Between Winter's cries, Qibli's laughter, and the delight he got from watching that Night girl peek up from her book to watch them, he didn't catch the creaking of the door. He didn't notice the soft footsteps that echoed in the kitchen, or the click of the lock as the door closed.

In fact, Qibli didn't notice the Mud that was entering the room until he as standing, frozen in the walkway between the kitchen and the living room, staring at Qibli as he tormented Winter. "Um...did I come at a bad time?"

Startled, Qibli looked up for a second, giving Winter just enough time to escape his hold, panting and brushing off his wrinkled shirt. "Damn it...thanks a lot, SandWing," he grumbled, inspecting his shirt like it was made of the finest fabric, which it probably was. Smirking, Qibli leaned against the wall, looking at the Mud. Hadn't that Night girl said that there would be at least one tribe in each dorm? That would explain the Mud, who had entered as if he had walked in on a gunfight.

Leaning against a wall, Qibli smirked at the Mud, cocking his head toward Winter. "Ignore him. He's being a pussy," he said, not as an insult, but more like it was a common fact, like he was saying "the sky is blue." Somehow, that managed to irritate Winter even more.

Smiling with that weird crooked smile he always hated, Qibli reached out a single hand toward the Mud. "I'm Qibli. The Ice over there is Winter, my _best friend_ —"

"OBJECTION!"

"He adores me. Anyways, you are?"

For some reason, as Qibli spoke to the Mud, he noticed something...off. As he spoke, he noticed the Mud's cocoa-colored face flush red, as if he had just swallowed a jalapeno pepper (which Qibli had learned never to do again). Beads of sweat popped up on his forehead, and he suddenly looked up at Qibli as if he couldn't speak. "I...I..." he muttered, stuttering like Winter had done when he was gasping for breath.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Qibli arched an eyebrow. "Um, are you—" he began, but before he could finish, there was a loud creak of a door, followed by an excited squeal. "OOOH—IS THAT OUR NEW ROOMMATE?" Kinkajou cried from the doorway of the girl's room, clapping her hands together, and at first Qibli almost at the instinct to cover his eyes after remembering what happened to Winter.

Standing right before him, was Kinkajou, dripping wet and covered in nothing but a towel, one around her body and one wrapping up her hair. However, even tucked away, Qibli saw the towel glowing shades of bright lavender and gold from her hair, swirling around like a mini disco ball. "HI! I'm Kinkajou!" Kinkajou cried, rushing forward and leaving wet footprints on the carpet.

Beaming, Kinkajou held out her hand, waiting for the Mud to shake it, which apparently snapped him out of whatever trance he was in. "Oh...um, I'm Umber," he finally said, obviously taken aback by Knkajou's exuberance. Kinkajou either didn't notice or was just used to people's reactions, as she completely ignored Umber's hesitance and slung her arm over his shoulder, gesturing around the room.

"Right, that's Winter, Qibli, Moonwatcher, and in there is Carnelian," she was saying, pointing at the girl's room, which was now wide open, and Qibli realized it was the first time he had actually seen the Sky. She was tall, with an athletic build and bright red hair, hanging off her head in a messy ponytail. Her skin was tanned, as if she had spent a long time working outside, and looking closely Qibli realized she had a long scar lacing around her arm.

Lounging on a large armchair, Carnelian sat, using a rock to sharpen something that looked like a small knife. Her black leather jacket and ripped pants kind of gave off a "don't touch me or I will literally f*** you over" vibe, something that Qibli had encountered quite a lot back home. If someone told me that Carnelian was from the Scorpion Den, he realized, I would believe it in a heartbeat without a second thought.

For some reason, Carnelian reminded Qibli somewhat of his mother, which instantly made him uncomfortable. The only difference, he thought, was that while Cobra would mix a poison and kill you without even getting her hands dirty, Carnelian would probably get up close and kill you in weapon-to-weapon combat without a single thought. This girl could kill someone as easily as I could open a soda can, he realized.

Glancing up as Kinkajou called her name, Carnelian glared and did nothing except use a finger that Qibli knew was a favorite in the Scorpion Den. Glancing over, he saw Winter glare back, and Umber shifted uncomfortably. Kinkajou, however, appeared to be particularly unphased, beaming and contining. "Over there is Moonwatcher, but I call her Moon," she continued, gesturing to the Night girl on the couch, and Qibli snapped his fingers. _That's_ what her name was!

At the sound of her name, Moonwatcher, or Moon, looked up from her book, startled. "What? Did you say something?" She asked, obviously not having expected anyone to speak to her, and Qibli realized that that was actually the first time he had heard her voice. It was kind of...nice.

 _Is my face red? Shit, my face is red,_ Qibli thought, almost internally ordering his face to go back to it's original color.

Kinkajou smiled, patting Umber's shoulder. "Yep! Moon, meet our new roommate, Umber! He's gonna be out Mud," she was saying, and Umber gave a smalll smile and waved weakly at Moon.

Suddenly, Kinkajou froze, as if something had suddenly dawned on her. "Wait a second..." she said, counting on her fingers to seven, then beamed. "Hey! Now that Umber's here, we have all the member's of our dorm now!" She exclaimed, now the gold in her hair threatening to overcome the lavender. Clapping her hands together, she looked around, then paused, gazing around the room, as if she had just noticed something.

"Wait a minute," she said, pressing her finger to her chin inquisitively as her hair shifted to a shade of pleasing blue, which Qibli figured probably meant curiosity. "Where's Turtle?" She asked, and for the first time, Qibli noticed that Turtle was mysteriously missing too. Wasn't he that Sea prince? Though Qibli would never say it out loud, he didn't seem particularly prince-like; for some reason he had always imagined a prince as someone gallant and handsome and looking slightly tortured, kind of like Winter, he thought.

Turtle had seemed...almost the opposite of that. In fact, Qibli thought that the Sea was actually going to have a seizure right there in the middle of the room with the way he was acting when everyone had been giving him all that attention. As far as he remembered, Turtle had slipped off to the bathroom right after. Was he still in there?

Walking over, Kinkajou experimentally rapped on the door three times. "Turtle? Are you still in there?" She asked, her blue hair swirling. For a moment, Kinkajou was met with silence, before there was a low sigh. "Yeah. I'm here," a small voice said, before there was the click of a lock, and Turtle stepped out of the bathroom, laptop under his arm, looking sheepish.

"Um...hi," he said, his face turning red underneath the lights on his face as he realized that everyone was just standing in the middle of the living room, all just looking at him.

"Turtle; this is Umber! He's our new Mud roommate!" Kinkajou cried, waving her arms in manner like she was an auctioneer auctioning off a painting. "With Umber, that means our dorm is finished! YAY! Kinkajou cried, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands together as gold and yellow again spiked through her hair, along with hints of pink.

As she bounced though, Qibli noticed that the towel around her waist was starting to slip. Umber, however, seemed to noticed first, for as soon as she started bouncing, his eyes widened as he quickly turned his head and covered his vision. "GAH! Kinkajou!" Moon suddenly shouted, quickly hiding her face in her book as the towel around her body loosened and Qibli and Winter averted their eyes. Curiously enough, Although Turtle covered his eyes, he peeked just a little bit through his fingers.

"Oh! Sorry," Kinkajou said, hoisting up her towel again and racing back into the girl's room. Fifteen minutes later, Kinkajou emerged wearing a flowery pink and yellow tank top with tulle on the ends and small shorts, and small pink sandals. A single gold headband with a flowery clip pushed back her short, curly hair, and a wide bean split her face as if she hadn't almost stripped in front of all of them.

Really, the towel hadn't come off enough to expose anything, but it was still enough for everyone to avert their eyes just in case. Well, except maybe Turtle, Qibli thought, glancing over at the Sea, who was now sitting behind the couch typing something on his laptop, his face bright red as if he were now embarrassed about it.

Gazing around the room, Kinkajou looked at her roommates, then frowned. During the time it had taken her to get dressed after her...ah, _incident,_ everyone had kind of gone off and done their own thing. While Moon was obviously still reading and Turtle was still writing at one thing, Winter was sitting in the boys' room with the door wide open, trying to feed Bandit what looked like a bit of hamburger, Carnelian was off in the girls' room just being Carnelian, Umber sat on the couch, looking like he was trying to text someone, and Qibli sat in the kitchen, chewing on an apple, digging through his bag, trying to find the headphones he had brought.

"Come on, guys!" Kinkajou said, stamping her foot as if there was something wrong with the scene before her that only she could see. "We've got our whole dorm together now; we should _do_ something!" Kinkajou cried, as if the situation was obvious. From the girls' room, Carnelian scoffed. "Yeah, no thanks," she said in a voice that seemed sarcastic and cruel. Huffing, Kinkajou whirled around. "C'mon Carnelian; please?" She begged.

Glaring, the Sky flashed another finger, then stood up and slammed the door in Kinkajou's face, only inches from her nose.

Curiously, Qibli looked up from his bag, arching an eyebrow. "Well. what would we do?" He asked, mildly curious as he leaned against the counter, his words muffled as he spoke through his apple.

Kinkajou crossed her arms, her finger against her chin, which Qibli was starting to notice she always did when she thought. "Um...oh I don't know! Qibli, do you know any places?"

Qibli shook his head; he had only been out of the Sand Kingdom for about a day. He didn't know where the nearest grocery store was, let alone a good place it would be to quote "do something."

"What about you guys? Don't you wanna _do_ something?" Kinkajou cried, placing her hands on her hips, and Moon and Turtle glanced up, but each of them remained silent. From his room, Qibli saw Winter emerge, his blue white hair brushed out of his eyes, hamburger still uneaten. Umber looked up from his phone, and for a moment, all six of them just sat there, just looking at each other, before finally Umber spoke up. "Um...I think I might know a place."

 **. . .**

Twenty minutes later, Qibli emerged into one of the most interesting setups he had ever encountered. For the most part, Qibli thought, he figured roofs were just supposed to be, well, just the top of buildings. He never thought that someone would actually take the time to move all this stuff up there. In the center of the roof, two simple couches, a rug, a table, and a few beanbags sat, looking surprisingly out of place in the sea of concrete. Interestingly enough, Qibli thought, most of the furniture has scorch markings on it.

But the most interesting thing of all was the girl sitting up there. She sat with her legs dangling off the side of the roof, as if she didn't care whether she fell or not. Flaming locks of auburn hair tumbled down her shoulders, the ends died to look like a raging fire. But the most interesting thing was her eyes. Unlike other Skys like Carnelian whose eyes were warm shades of orange or yellow, this girl's eyes were electric blue, like they could devour anything in her path.

Her legs swinging as she sat on the side of the building, the girl took a long drag from a cigarette, her eyes looking down sat the scene before her as if she didn't even notice they were there, until Umber's voice finally broke the silence, and the girl spun around, eyes wide.

"Guys," Umber said. "I want you to meet Peril."


	9. Chapter VII: Moonwatcher

**_Moonwatcher_**

All her life, Moonwatcher had considered herself fairly antisocial. On her first day of kindergarten, she had sobbed so hard that her mother had to take her home, and she didn't go back until a week later. Whenever her mother went to big town events like concerts in the plaza, Moonwatcher would always stay home and read a scroll or try to find constellation patterns.

In high school, whenever she got assigned to a group project she would always just take the project and do it herself while her other group members messed around. Just the thought of going to parties had made it hard to breathe.

But as she stood on the rooftop of the Jade Dormitory, surrounded by nothing but a group of strangers and a slowly darkening evening sky, she was starting to think she may have found someone who was even more antisocial than she was.

This Peril, Umber had called her, gave off all sorts of weird vibes. First of all, there was her mind. As soon as Moonwatcher so much as thought about entering it, a wave of searing hot pain hit her, almost like she was being burned. It was so sudden and unexpected, the young Night almost had a stroke standing right there on the rooftop.

As long as she had been breathing, Moonwatcher had always been able to see into another person's mind, whether intentional or unintentional. The simple act had always just seemed so easy; almost like water flowing into a trench. She couldn't stop it or force it, it just kind of...happened. And now, it suddenly felt like one of those trenches had been suddenly blocked off, almost like with a boulder—or rather, a firewall, leaving Moonwatcher feeling as if she had just touched a hot stove with her brain.

However, it wasn't just Peril's mind that made it obvious she wanted to be left alone. Her hoodie, despite being an attractive red, hid her appearance and figure so that she looked like just another college student, here to go to school like everyone else.

Her auburn hair, dyed a startling neon orange near the tips, was half shaved on one side, cascading over the right side of her head like a waterfall made from coppery flames. When she turned her head, her hair shifted, giving the appearance like it was tumbling and shimmering like a real waterfall.

But the most startling thing about her was her eyes. With her tanned skin and orange hair, Peril was obviously a Sky, but her eyes were the most startling shade of blue Moonwatcher had ever seen. They were like two orbs of lightning, crackling with an unseen power and energy.

But despite all that, despite her waterfall hair and lightning eyes, it was obvious this girl wanted to be left alone. She sat with a slouched posture like she was trying to make herself seem shorter, and her hoodie was pulled over her hair, subduing it to a more tame look.

Even her eyes, alive as they were, still had kind of a dull sadness, as if she had gone through things Moonwatcher couldn't even fathom.

Everything about this girl, "Peril", from her lightning blue eyes to her insane yet sad demeanor unsettled Moonwatcher, like the Sky girl was a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.

But right now, she looked too surprised to explode. As soon as the words "meet Peril," slipped past Umber's lips, she suddenly whipped her head away from her spot on the ledge, her auburn hair flying in her face like a fire attack.

For a moment, she stumbled, and Moonwatcher's heart almost stopped, thinking she was going to fall off the ledge, but just then she steadied herself and spat out a few curses that probably would have gotten Moonwatcher her mouth washed out if her mother had heard that.

As soon as she was steady, Peril's head suddenly lashed up, her eyes gleaming angrily.

"What. The. Hell."

For a moment, Moonwatcher stood there, frozen in place and surprised at her initial first reaction. Umber, his pale brown face suddenly flushing red, cleared his throat and gestured behind him.

"Uh, Peril...I just wanted you to uh, meet some people," he muttered, suddenly stumbling over his words horribly. Peril merely arched an eyebrow, sitting up so that one knee was close to her chest while the other one dangled limply.

Swallowing, Umber turned around and gestured at the group. "So, um, this is Moonwatcher, Winter, Kinkajou, Turtle, and Qibli," he mumbled, suddenly incredibly nervous and talking as if there was a golf ball lodged in his throat.

As Umber introduced Moonwatcher, the young NightWing looked down, suddenly pulling on her hair, a nervous habit she had developed. She didn't know why, but the whole attitude of this "Peril" girl made her nervous.

Kinkajou, on the other hand, was completely open. Standing on her tiptoes, the young Rain waved in a friendly manner as Umber introduced her, beaming as her hair swirled with appealing shades of excited lavender and gold. Winter, however, simply sneered, his eyes narrowing as he evaluated the Sky girl, and Moonwatcher realized just how different the two of them were. While Ice society was all order and practicality, this girl was the complete opposite of that, with her dyed hair and hoodie. No wonder he seemed a little anxious.

Turtle, at this point, had tried to blend into the background and make himself completely invisible, which Moon had to give him credit for. The Sea prince had kept himself so quiet and still, blending in so easily that Moon had completely forgotten he was there; so she doubted Peril had noticed him.

As Umber mentioned Qibli, the Sand shot a crooked smile, his arms crossed not in a hostile way, but more in a _what's up?_ kind of way, almost welcoming.

Peril, evidently, was unsure how to take all this in. For a moment, she simply stood there, staring at all of them, until she suddenly burst out with, "wait, am I supposed to introduce myself now? Is that what we're doing? Oh, shoot, um..." she stuttered, pulling anxiously on the strings of her hoodie.

"Crap um...I guess I'm Peril...and...uh..." Peril stuttered, pulling on her strings tighter. Finally, the young Sky gave up and dropped her arms to her sides, a deep scowl creasing her face. "Umber, can I talk to you a second?" She hissed. Instantly, Moonwatcher was glad she wasn't on the other end of this conversation.

Face reddening even deeper, Umber gave a stiff nod and started walking over to Peril. _Damn it, I knew this was a bad idea,_ his mind whispered, and as the young Mud strolled over to Peril, Moonwatcher broadened her awareness of his mind.

She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop intentionally, but she really wanted to know more; like what this Peril girl was like, or how Umber even knew her. She couldn't read her mind anyway; so she figured this was as good as it was gonna get.

"Do you think she's a student here?" Kinkajou asked, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Which year is she in? I would say at least junior; she looked kind of older," Kinkajou rambled on, filling the silence that was left in Umber and Peril's absence as the two walked over to a corner of the rooftop; their voices barely audible. However, Peril wasn't exactly the quietest whisperer, and to Moon, Umber's mind sounded as clear as day; so she could at the very least fill in the gaps. For once, Moonwatcher was actually thankful for sitting at the back of the classroom most of her school career; apparently she had fantastic hearing.

 _"Umber, what is this?"_ Peril hissed, her voice breaking through the quiet.

Umber winced at her sharp tone; clearly, he wasn't very used to being yelled at."I'm _sorry, but they seemed nice enough, and the Rain said that they were looking for a spot to hang out, and_ —

 _"So you brought them to my roof?"_

For some reason, Moonwatcher thought it was odd the way Peril said _my_ _roof_ like it was her property or something.

 _Well, I mean technically it isn't your roof,_ Umber's mind whispered, though obviously, he didn't voice his thoughts.

 _"What, were you just hoping that I wouldn't be here so you could use it for a party or whatever?"_ Peril continued, the anger quickly rising in her voice like thick venom threatening to spill over the surface. Still, even though she was obviously pissed off, there was something behind her words. Even though they were barely audible, there was a sense of something besides anger behind her words...hurt. It was just barely noticeable, and Moonwatcher wasn't even sure if she had read it right, but obviously Umber got it.

 _"What? No! I just thought that it would be cool, and you might want someone to hang out with or something..."_ The young Mud muttered, his voice trailing off as he dug the toe of his shoe into the cement rooftop.

For a moment, Peril was silent, simply looking at Umber quietly, her lips pulled into a tight line. Moomwatchet squinted her eyes, trying to get a good look at Peril's face, but her expression was unreadable, as if she had a lot of practice keeping what she felt closed off.

 _"Really?"_ She finally whispered, a bit quieter than before. She said is warily, as if verifying if Umber actually meant it or not.

 _"I mean...yeah..."_ Umber muttered, though in his mind, Moonwatcher sensed a bit of confusion. _Why won't she believe me? Is it that hard to think I'm not lying?_

As Umber spoke, Moonwatcher caught glimpses of something she hadn't noticed before. The images she saw were blurry, like a broken television, but just barely she thought she saw Umber, and maybe what looked like five, maybe six other people, all of them looking kind of alike but also a little different.

All of them appeared to be bigger than Umber, and though she couldn't make out distinct features, she saw small blurry clips passing by, like if you flipped through channels on a tv. She saw laughing, crying, and a whole bunch more things she couldn't name.

For some reason though, just seeing it in Umber's mind made Moonwatcher feel the same way she felt around her mother. And that's when it hit her: this was Umber's family. The warm glow surrounding the memories was the joy he felt about them.

No wonder Umber had a hard time understanding Peril; even though Moonwatcher had known the girl all of ten minutes, she could see the hurt in her eyes because she could relate to it. She knew what it looked like, and what it felt like to feel lonely; and she could see that in Peril so clearly.

Umber would never understand becuase he had grown up in a loving home, free of pain and strife. Peril seemed like the exact opposite.

Then, just as quickly as te memories bubbled to the surface, they disappeared as Umber stopped thinking about them and Peril started speaking again.

 _"And you swear on your life that you not lying to me? Because if you're lying to me_ —" Peril hissed, but this time with a bit less vemom in her voice.

 _"No, no, I'm not lying!"_ Umber insisted, waving his hands in front of himself for emphasis. Moonwatcher could tell he meant it with every fiber of his being.

For a few more moments, Peril stood there, her eyes squinted. Then, she finally she let out a long sigh, releasing all the remaining tension in her shoulders.

 _"Alright."_

 _"What?"_

 _"I said alright! I'll give it a try, just...you know, don't get your hopes up,"_ Peril muttered, rubbing the sleeves of her hoodie.

Still, Umber smiled, then leaned in and whispered something even Moonwatcher couldn't pick up. Whatever it was, it made Peril give a small smile, then reach out like she was going to punch Umber in the arm, then stopped abruptly as if remembering something.

Umber then turned around to face the rest of them, a small smile splitting his face. "Anyway guys...this is Peril," he said again, gesturing to Peril, who gave a too-wide smile that seemed a bit forced. Ignoring that, Umber continued. "She said that for right now, we can use the—uh, _her_ roof."

"Really?" Kinkajou suddenly exclaimed, her attention being torn away from what ever rant she had been in the middle of as her hair turned neon with shades of pink and yellow so bright that they hurt Moon's eyes.

"Uh, Kinkajou..." she muttered, shielding her eyes, and glancing around she saw everyone else was doing the same.

"Oh! Sorry," the young Rain exclaimed, covering her mouth with the tips of her fingers to hide a smile as she managed to wrangle her hair down to a dimmer, easier-to-look-at color. "I'm just really excited! We're gonna have a lot of fun, right?"

"Yeah! Fun," Peril said with a little too much enthusiasm. The way she said fun, Moon noticed, sounded strange on her tongue, as if she was trying out a new word to see how it felt in her mouth.

Reaching into the pocket of her hoodie, Peril pulled out what looked like a small pack of cigarettes, shaking one out of the box into the palm of her hand. Holding it up, Peril touched it lightly with the tip of her finger, where it instantly burst into flames, though Moon didn't see her get a lighter.

As she stuck the stick in her mouth and blew out a few puffs, Winter stared at her with a look of disdain. "You know those are terrible for your body, right?"

Peril suddenly widened her eyes. _"They are?!"_ She exclaimed, appalled, as if the thought had just occured to her. Winter arched an eyebrow.

"I mean...you're blowing smoke into your body."

Instantly, Peril's shoulders relaxed. "Is that it? Pssh, nevermind then; that's not an issue," she said, throwing herself onto one of the singed couches.

Winter furrowed his eyebrows together, and Moonwatcher shared a bit in his confusion. What did she mean by "not an issue"?

"Whatever, I thought you guys wanted to have fun or something?" Peril said, blowing a puff of smoke from her cigarette. "What about that one game everyone is always talking about—truth or death?"

"Uh...do you mean truth or dare?" Moonwatcher piped up timidly. Peril cocked her head. "Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure—" she stopped when she saw the weirded out looks on everyone's faces, then shrugged.

"Alright. If you say so," she said, stretching out and gesturing for everyone to sit down as well.

Umber gave a small smile. "Well. You heard her." Kinkajou seemes to be the only one not weary about sitting near Peril. The young Rain ran over, crossing her legs on the couch. Slowly, everyone else followed.

Moonwatcher could tell this was going to be an interesting evening.


End file.
